Feasibility study to be conducted on Giant King Grass power plant

By Viaspace Inc. | June 02, 2014

Viaspace Inc. has announced that Energia Reino Verde (English translation "Green Kingdom Energy"), the company that will own and operate the 12 MW biomass power plant to be co-located with a 2,100 acre Giant King Grass (GKG) plantation in Nicaragua, signed a contract on May 23with PELICAN SA of Managua, Nicaragua, to conduct a formal feasibility study of the project. PELICAN focuses on developing, building and operating renewable energy projects in Nicaragua and the region, including biomass, hydroelectricity and solar.

Energia Reino Verde is a 50-50 partnership of Viaspace and prominent Nicaraguan partners. Viaspace CEO Carl Kukkonen also serves as president of Energia Reino Verde.

“I have met with PELICAN several times and am pleased to have them on board,” Kukkonen said. “Their team has extensive experience including engineering, construction and operations of biomass power plants. The feasibility study will build on and validate our internal prefeasibility study, business plan and financial model. We plan to have the feasibility study completed in 90 days. I will go to Nicaragua next week for the kickoff of the feasibility study and to meet with our Nicaraguan partners and visit the Giant King Grass plantation."

"The Platts Conference in Panama will be an excellent opportunity to promote our concept of a co-located Giant King Grass plantation and power plant where we ‘grow our own electricity’ to provide 24/7, reliable base renewable electricity as a contrast to (and potential companion with) intermittent sources like wind and solar. We will also conduct business meetings during the conference," Kukkonen continued.

"Simultaneous with the formal feasibility study, we are working on the financing for the Energia Reino Verde 12 MW biomass power plant,” said Viaspace Chairman Kevin Schewe. “We have a superb Nicaraguan team in place and the Giant King Grass plantation is growing well and steadily expanding. We see this project as our prime business model both from the economic standpoint of co-locating the power plant and GKG plantation, as well as Viaspace supplying GKG and partnering in the power plant revenues. Furthermore, we believe that there are significant additional opportunities for Viaspace to grow its footprint in Central America as we continue to successfully develop this project. Our credibility in the region is evident from the invitation for Dr. Kukkonen to speak at the Platts Conference in Panama. Our corporate growth continues at a perfect time when the average carbon dioxide measurements at all monitoring stations in the northern hemisphere were above 400 parts per million for the month of April 2014, the first time that's been recorded in human history. We are creating an economically advantageous pathway to reduce global carbon emissions at a time that it is most needed."

VIASPACE also announced that Dr. Kukkonen will be an invited speaker at the 17th Annual Platts Private Power in Central America Conference to be held June 12-13, 2014 in Panama City, Panama. The conference covers fossil fuel and renewable electricity projects in the region, and the Nicaragua Energia Reino Verde project will be presented as a case study.